Miami. "The U." Those words used to be synonymous with college football greatness.

The cut-off white, green and orange jerseys struck fear and intimidation into the hearts of opponents from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

However, in the past nine years, the name Miami on the schedule hasn't had the same fervor and fan ferocity that it once had.

That's mainly because the 'Canes haven't held up their end of the bargain. The wins havent' been there.

In 2011, the school hired Al Golden as its new head coach amidst a huge scandal involving improper benefits being given to players by grimey booster Nevin Shapiro.

That ominous storm cloud has since left Coral Gables. Golden has gotten back to heavily fishing the deep talent pool that is in the school's backyard of Dade County, Fla.

One such talent is current junior running back Duke Johnson.

Sunday, at the ACC Football Kickoff, the 5-foot-9, 206-pound Miami native sat down at his assigned media table with a sheepish grin, cup of ice cream and a silver "U No. 8" emblem hanging from his necklace.

He talked about returning from an injury, the upcoming season, playing for coach Golden, getting back to winning in recruiting and much more.

Johnson has been among the Atlantic Coast Conference's best running backs in his first two season in Miami, the second of which (last year) was cut short by an ankle injury versus Florida State.

Prior to that injury, Miami was 7-0 and Johnson had rushed for 920 yards and six touchdowns.

After Johnson went out, the Hurricanes lost 41-14 to the arch-rival Seminoles, and then dropped their next two games to Virginia Tech and Duke.

The 'Canes went on to be absolutely embarrassed in the Russell Athletic Bowl by Louisville, 36-9.

But Johnson provides the ray of sunlight that just may bloom his team fully back into "The U," once again.

There are questions for Miami at quarterback with Stephen Morris gone, but lets face it, there were questions with Morris there.

Johnson has the potential to be the best back in the ACC and an All-American.

He rushed for 947 yards as a freshman in 2012, but just wants to return Miami to glory more than get 1,000 yards rushing.

"We have the potential to win the Coastal division, but having the potential and going out on the field and actually doing it are different things," Johnson said.

"I have a lot to prove. I haven't rushed for 1,000 yards yet. My team hasn't played for an ACC championship yet, so I really haven't accomplished anything yet."

From 1996-2004, Miami played in eight bowl games and won seven.

That span included a national championship victory in the 2001 Rose Bowl over Nebraska and a controversial loss in the '02 Fiesta Bowl National Championship Game to Ohio State.

Since 2004, the Hurricanes have played in six bowl games and won just one.

They haven't won a conference championship since joining the ACC in 2004.

Johnson said that Golden has really paid attention to getting back to owning the recruiting of South Florida, Dade County in particular.

"Recruiting is going good. We have to just recruit our backyard and get those guys to stay home and play football for Miami," Johnson said.

Every year, some of the best high school football teams in the nation reside in Miami like Northwestern High School, Miami Central and Washington to name a few.

Golden wrangled in a five-star Miami running back for this season in Joseph Yearby and has 20 Dade County players on the 2014 roster.

The quarterback battle is expected to be between senior Ryan Williams and BYU/Kansas transfer Jake Heaps, who was granted a release to play for the Hurricanes in 2014.

Miami will have a formidable receiving corps in Phillip Dorsett, Stacy Coley and Herb Waters and a defense led by linebacker Denzel Perryman and defensive lineman Anthony Chickillo, but it will be the broad shoudlers of Johnson that will carry most of the load and the pressure.

Miami will be seeking its first bowl win since a 21-20 win over Nevada in the 2006 MPC Computers Bowl.

Jordan Honeycutt can be reached at 252-635-5670 or you can follow him on Twitter @JHONEYnbsj